Pedestal mount for guns



May 6 1924.

"r. A. CONLON PEDESTL MOUNT FOR GUNS Filed Jan. so 1924 (11101 wagPatented May 6, 1924.

1,492,962 PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS.A. CONT-011T; OF SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND.

PEDESTAL MOUNT FQR GUNS.

Application filed 'Iannary 30, 1924. Serial No. 689,489.

(FILED UNDER THE ACT OF HAIR-0H 8, 1883, 22 STAT. L, 625.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS A. CONLON, a citizen of the United States,and a resi dent of Silver Spring, county of'Montgomcry, and State ofMaryland, have invented an Improvement in Pedestal Mounts for Guns, ofwhich the following is a specification. I The invention. describedherein may be used by the Government, or any of its ofiicers oremployees in prosecution of Work for the Government, or by any otherperson in the United States, without payment to me of any ro altythereon, in accordance with the act 0 March 3, 1883.

The present invention relates to pedestal mounts for guns andparticularly to that type of pedestal mount employed with antiaircraftartillery.

In using large caliber guns and guns of the anti-aircraft type, it isabsolutely essential for correct aiming that some means be provided inthe gun mount for maintaining the cradle trunnions in a horizontal planeat a5 fall times when the gun is moving in azimuth. The structuresemployed, heretofore, fdr maintaining the true horizontal position ofthe cradletrunnions have been expensive to construct, diflicult to oerate and involve a multiplicity of complicated parts which readily getout of order.

The primary ob ect of the present invention isfto provide a levelingdevice for guns by means of which the gun cradle may be maintained atall times in a true horizontal position regardless of the configurationof the ground upon which the gun is mounted.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a gun mount inwhich ease of operation, simplicity and inexpensiveness of constructionare distinguishing characteris tics.

With the foregoing and'otherobjects" in view, my invention resides inthe novel arrangement and combination of parts and in the details ofconstruction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood thatchanges in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed maybe made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from thespirit cf the invention.

A preferred embodiment of mv invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawing, in which,

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2--2 of' Fig. 1.

eferring to the drawing by numerals of reference;

have shown a base 5 which may be positioned upon a permanent gunemplacement or upon a movable gun carriage. Mounted upon the base 5 andsecured thereto as by means of bolts 6, is a. pedestal 7. Asupportingmember 8 mounted upon the pedestal? serves to carry the uppergun carriage with the cradle and gun attached thereto. This supportingmember 8 is mounted on the pedestal 7 so as to have universal movementwith respect thereto, thus the pedestal 7 at its u per end may be formedwith a socket 9 a( apted to receive a ball-head 10, preferabl formedintegral with the'sup-porting mem er 8.

By moving the supporting member on the pedestal should the gun be foundto be un evenly positioned, the cradle may be always maintained level.For movin the supporting member with respect t t e pedestal, l.

referably employ a pair of movable memrs 11 and 12 mounted on thepedestal and reciprocable in paths at right angles to each other andconnected to the supporting member 8 in such manner that the totalmovement of the reciprocating members is communicated to the supportingmember so as to maintain the gun in its proper level position.

The movable member 11 in the embodiment of my invention, is screwthreadead so as to move upon an actuating bolt 13 mounted upon thepedestal as by referred I means of brackets 14. 'For guiding themember11 in its reciprocating movement.

bars 15 may be provided, which are attached screw thread and is mountedupon a bolt 18 which is journaled at either end in the cross bars 19 ofthe member 11.

Any suitable means may be employed for connecting the movable members 11and 12 to the supporting member 8 so that the movement of the members 11and 12 may be communicated to the member 8 to maintain the gun in a truehorizontal position. As shown, the member 8 is formed at its lower endwith a recess 20 adapted to receive a spheroidal connectin member'2lwhich is preferably formed integral with the movable member 12.

For actuating the members 11 and 12 rachets may be employed connected bycollars 22 to the bolts 13 and 18, respectively. The rachets may bemanipulated by levers 23 pivoted to the collais 22 and normally held ininoperative position against the pedestal 7 by catches 24; Four rachetswill be provided, preferably, one for either end of a bolt. r

In operation, my device may be employed as follows:

v"When the gun has been brought into position and. it is found that thetrunnions are not in a horizontal plane, the bolt 18 or the bolt 13 orboth bolts will be actuated to move the members 11 and 12 so as tocorrect the position of the cradle trunnions. In this way, thesupporting member 8 will be moved and with the member 8 the cradle sothat the gun at all times may be maintained in a true horizontalposition.

The pedestal forming the subject of this invention, is easy toconstruct, simple in operation and requires but a few easy wor ingparts. It will not get out of order in or inary'use and avoids the manydifficulties met with in the leveling pedestals heretofore employed.

Havin thus described my what I c aim is:

1. A leveling device for guns including a pedestal, a supporting memberprovided with a recess in its lower end mounted on the pedestal andadapted to have universal movement with respect thereto, a membermounted on' the pedestal and reciprocable in a rectilinear path in oneplane, said member provided with a longitudinal groove transverse to itspath of movement, a second member mounted on the first member andadapted to move in rectilinear path in the groove of the first memberand be guided thereby, means secured to the second member and adapted/coseat in the recess of the supporting member to move the supportingmember on movement of the second member and means adapted to move eachof the mlovable members. 1

2. A leveling device for guns includin a pedestal, a supporting memberprovide with a. recess in its lower end molinted on invention,

the pedestal and adapted to have universal movement with respectthereto, a member mounted on the pedestal and reciprocable in one plane,said member provided with a longitudinal groove transverse to its pathof movement, a second member mounted on the first member and adapted tomove in the groove of the first member and be guided thereby, meanssecured tothe second member and adapted to seat in the recess of thesupporting member to move the supporting member on movement of thesecond member and means adapted to'move each of the movable members.

3. A leveling device for guns including a pedestal, a supporting memberprovided with a recess in its lower end mounted on the pedestal andadapted to have universal I movement with respect thereto, a movablemember on the pedestal and reciprocable in a rectilinear path in oneplane, means on the pedestal guiding this member in its reciprocablemovement, a second movable member mounted on the first member andreciprocable in a rectilinear path in a plane at right angles to thepath of movement of the first member, means on the first member guidingthe second member in its reciprocable movement, a spheroidal membersecured to the second member and adapted to seat in the recess of thesupporting member and means adapted to move each of the movable members.

4. A leveling device for guns including a pedestal, a supporting memberprovided with a recess in 1ts lower end mounted on the pedestal andadapted to have universal movement with respect thereto, a movablemember on the pedestal and reciprocable in one plane, means on thepedestal guiding this member in its reciprocable movement, a secondmovable member mounted on the first member and reciprocable in a planeat right angles to the path of movement of the first member, means onthe first member guiding the second member in its reciprocable movement,a s heroidal member secured to the secon member and adapted to seat inthe recess of the supporting member to move the supporting member onmovementof the second member and means adapted to move each of themovable members.

5. A leveling, device including a pedestal, a supporting member providedwith a recess in its lower end mounted on the pedestal of the supportingmember, and means adapted to move each of the movable members.

6. A leveling device including a pedestal, a supporting member providedwith a recess in its lower end mounted on the pedestal and adapted tohave universal movement with respect thereto, a movable member mountedon the pedestal and reciprocable in one plane, a second movable membermounted on the first member and reciprocable in a plane at right anglesto the path of movement of the first member, means on the second memberadapted to seat in the recess of the supporting member, and meansadapted to move each of the movable members.

7 A leveling device including a pedestal, a supporting member mounted onthe pedestal and adapted to have universal movement with respectthereto, a member mounted on the pedestal movable in a rectilinear pathin one plane, a member connected to the first member and movable in.

a rectilinear path at an angle to the path of movement of the firstmember and means for connecting the second member to the Supportingmember.

8. A leveling device including a pedestal, a support 1g member mountedon the pedestal and adapted to have universal movement with respectthereto, a member mounted on the pedestal movable in one plane, a memberconnected to the first memer and movable in a path at an angle to thepath of movement of the first member and a member interposed between thesecond member and the supporting member for connecting the second memberto the supporting member.

9. A'leveling device including a pedestal, a supporting member mountedon the pedestal and adapted to have universal move-' ment with respectthereto, a member mounted on the pedestal movable in a rectilinear pathin one plane, a member mounted on the pedestal movable in a rectilinearpath at right angles to the path of movement of the first member, andmeans for communicating the motion of both members to the supportingmember.

10. A leveling device including a pedestal, a supporting member mountedon the pedestal and adapted to have universal movement with respectthereto, a member mounted on the pedestal movable in'one plane, a membermounted on the pedestal movable in a path at right angles to the path ofmovement of the first member, and means interposed between the secondmember and supporting member for communicating the motion of bothmembers to the supporting member.

THOMAS A. CONLON.

